Berkshire MCAS results

Posted
Thursday, September 20, 2012 6:42 am

Thursday September 20, 2012

Under the state's new accountability and assistance system -- which replaces the No Child Left Behind metric known as "adequate yearly progress" -- schools are rated at a level between 1 and 5, with Level 1 meaning that a school or district is meeting all its progress goals for all students.

The levels are based on cumulative progress over a four-year span in terms of MCAS scores and participation, as well as graduation and dropout rates. These levels also reflect how well schools are helping high-needs student subgroups like students from low-income households, students with disabilities and students with limited English language skills.

Of Berkshire County's 19 assessed school districts, three are rated at Level 1, 11 are rated at Level 2 and three are Level 3 districts. There are no level 4 or 5 districts in the county. The other two districts (Savoy and Hancock) did not have a large enough student body participating in assessment subgroups to earn a level rating.

About 80 percent of schools and districts in the state are classified as Level 1 or Level 2. No schools in the state are at Level 5, and 12 districts and 43 schools are classified at Level 4 by the state education commissioner.
Accountability levels by school district

Levels run from 1 to 5, with 1 being the best. The accountability levels were established using results of student MCAS test scores and participation, graduation and dropout rates, and growth in these areas over a four-year period.

The notable high- and low-performing districts and schools, which ranked either in the top 10 in the state or the bottom 10 (via Boston.com) in comparison with other similar districts and schools, as a result of student MCAS test scores:

Rankings by district

Third-grade English

n Richmond ranked No. 1 of 301 in third-grade English with 19 students tested.

n Lee Public Schools was ranked at 290, with 57 students tested; Berkshires Hills and North Adams were co-ranked at 292 with 86 and 111 students tested, respectively.

Third-grade math

n North Adams was ranked at 296 of 301 for math scores, with 111 students tested; Lanesborough was ranked 300 with 40 students tested.

Fourth-grade English

n North Adams was ranked 292 of 201, with 107 students tested.

Fifth-grade English

n Clarkburg was ranked 305 of 313, with 22 students tested.

Fifth-grade math

n Farmington River was ranked 308 out of 313, with 17 students tested.

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